


homewrecker

by tia37



Series: poem weaver [2]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bullying, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Gen, M/M, Slow Burn, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-03-02 16:06:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13321722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tia37/pseuds/tia37
Summary: Something died inside him thirteen years ago and now it's trying to claw its way to the surface.(poem weaver,but in Ouma's POV.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was only supposed to be released after the completion of 'poem weaver'. But I've got writer's block for it :( so here you go. Enjoy.

Whenever Kokichi was called into Munakata's office, he always felt a sense of dread. Assignments that came from Sakakura were straightforward, assignments that came from Kirigiri needed thinking, but Munakata? Munakata was infamous among Future Foundation agents for giving the worst assignments. People who came back from Munakata's posts were known to either need therapy or quit the Future Foundation outright.

Despite knowing that, Kokichi could not disobey orders. He knocked on Munakata's door and stepped inside. Munakata gestured to the seat across him wordlessly, so Kokichi took that as an invitation to sit down.

Munakata slid a file across the table. "I have a Remnant who may be on the verge of falling back into despair. The only reason I'm not having him eliminated right away is because he's been helping Kirigiri. I need you to get close to his daughter and, by extension, him."

Kokichi flipped open the file. Saihara Shiori, daughter of one Saihara Shuichi and Akamatsu Kaede. Set to attend Hope's Peak Elementary due to her observation and keen intellect. The assignment was to go undercover as an elementary school teacher at Hope's Peak Elementary and keep an eye on them as Shiori's homeroom teacher and an old classmate. If Saihara showed any signs of falling into despair, Kokichi was to eliminate him immediately.

Kokichi's face twisted into a grim smile. "You are a cruel man, Munakata-san," he said levelly, but his heart was pounding in his chest. 

"I am pragmatic. Logical. If the world views me as cruel, then so be it," Munakata said. "If you don't like it, you can always quit."

Kokichi shook his head. "No, I'll take it." Let him be damned if he would let his beloved Saihara fall back into despair. Even if it caused Kokichi pain, it could not possibly rival the pain of despair itself. He would never let his beloved Saihara feel that kind of pain ever again, even if it was at the cost of his own safety.

Munakata leaned back into his chair, visibly satisfied. "Good. With your intelligence, I expect you to take the teacher's qualifying examinations and pass within a year. Hope's Peak has been informed of your situation. When you pass, Kizakura will offer you a job."

"I understand," Kokichi said. He took the file, bowed and left. 

* * *

 

Kokichi looked at the picture attached to the file, Saihara Shiori's picture. She had Akamatsu's features and eye color but her father's hair. Akamatsu and Saihara had fallen in love, gotten married, had sex and she had borne him a daughter. Saihara, the man he fell in love with twelve years ago, was happily married to Akamatsu, and Kokichi would have to look at their daughter in the eyes for six years and see his beloved in her and know that he would never have a chance, never mean anything more than an ex-classmate to Saihara. 

He threw the file to one side and never looked at it again. He could not even find it in him to cry that night.

* * *

 

"Ouma-kun," Kirigiri called. Kokichi stopped in his tracks and turned to face Kirigiri. "I heard you've been assigned to Saihara-kun."

"My, does Kirigiri-chan want some of Saihara-chan too?" Kokichi teased. Internally, he sweared. Kirigiri was a keen detective, one of the few people who could look through him and his lies and see him for who he was. This was his last day in the Future Foundation HQ, he would be free of this place starting tomorrow and he had to run into her today. He wanted to get away from her as fast as humanly possible, but she was also his superior and he could not disobey her. "With all due respect, Kirigiri-chan, it's my assignment," Kokichi smiled sweetly. "Let me handle it, hmm?"

"I have utmost faith in your abilities, Ouma-kun," Kirigiri said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "What I'm not sure of is your ability to be objective in this assignment."

Kokichi's smile froze. There it was. Kirigiri was too damn observant for her own good. "I assure you, Kirigiri-chan, that I will complete this assignment as flawlessly as I have always done."

Kirigiri raked her eyes over his body for a few seconds, then nodded. "I'm sure you will, Ouma-kun. Forgive me for doubting you." She turned on her heels and walked away, leaving Kokichi to stare at the grey, empty hallways of the Future Foundation.

* * *

 

In the year between receiving the assignment and entering Hope's Peak Elementary, Kokichi did not even take a glance at the file.

How could he? He knew more than that file would ever reveal about his beloved. He knew Saihara's birthday and blood type and height and weight and even his chest measurement. He knew Saihara liked to read mystery novels when he was not working on a case and hated it when people gossiped because he found it interfered with information he truly needed for investigations. He knew that Saihara liked to drink tea and unlike Kokichi, he hated mixing his tea with sugar or milk because he actually liked the bitterness of the tea leaves. He knew so much about Saihara from his days at Hope's Peak and the Ultimate Academy of Gifted Juveniles and thirteen years later, he still had not forgotten all that information.

It was not as if Kokichi did not try to move on. He did. He tried dating other men, but he always found himself comparing them to Saihara. He would always find himself wishing that their hair had a blue tint in them, or that their eyelashes would be a little longer, or that they would stammer and blush whenever Kokichi teased them a little. Over time he found that he was being unfair to them, so he stopped dating random men and gave up on forgetting his beloved. 

No one would ever come close to beating his beloved Saihara. Of that, he was sure.

Kokichi sighed and flopped on his bed. He had moved in to a new apartment a few minutes away from Hope's Peak Elementary (sponsored by the school, of course) and was due to start school tomorrow. As much as he hated to admit it, he was nervous. What if he fucked up and taught the kids all the wrong things? It was all he had ever done in his life, after all. Fuck up and leave others to clean up his mess as he ran away from his troubles. 

Kokichi did not think he was worthy of being a teacher. He was broken, a twenty nine year old gay man who still pined for his teenage crush and had a long string of one night stands to try and forget what a failure he was. He had accomplished nothing in his life other than selling his soul to an organization that started out with good intentions and ended up militaristic and paranoid. If he taught the kids, what would they learn? Would they follow him his footsteps? That was the last thing he wanted for a child.

Regardless, an assignment was an assignment. He would do as Kirigiri asked; be objective, do his job and look for signs of despair. If Saihara really was falling back into despair...

Kokichi rolled over and pulled the covers up, hyperaware of the gun tucked in the bottom of his suitcase. He did not want to think about that possibility.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does anyone get why this fic is called homewrecker? No? Does the title make sense to you? Does it? DOES IT

Kokichi checked himself in the mirror one last time. Hair, tied up in a tiny ponytail. Shirt, buttoned up properly. The checkered tie Ken handmade for him as a reminder of DICE, check. Belt, properly fastened. Dress shoes, fitted properly and not about to fall off at a moment's notice.

He patted the gun concealed in his right pant leg and made sure he was able to draw it as fast as possible. Retrieving the gun was not as fast as if the gun was tucked into the back of his waistband, but it would have to do. He tried concealing the gun there but it was obvious that he was hiding something, so he had to hide the gun in his pants.

He hoped he never had to use it.

Before leaving the apartment, he checked his phone. It had been buzzing all morning and he had not had the time to check it yet. The first message was from Miu, who was taunting him as usual.

IM: kokichi's going back to school ahahahaha

OK: shut the fuck up you dumb whore

Next was Gonta, who was genuinely congratulating him on his first day of being a teacher. Kokichi felt a pang of guilt. Gonta did not know that he was actually on assignment and thought that he actually chose to be a teacher on his own will. 

GG: Gonta is proud that Kokichi choose respectable career! Kokichi becoming true gentleman!

OK: thanks gonta  
OK: :)

The third person to text him was Kirigiri Kyoko.

KK: Today is the first point of contact. Make sure you get his contact info and establish a routine of meeting him and his daughter every week. Remember: your main objective is to observe, not to interfere. Ensure that he is not harming his daughter. If you can convince him to go for therapy, that would be optimal.

OK: i know that, kirigiri-chan  
OK: i'm not an amateur

The last message was from Kaito, of all people. Kokichi raised an eyebrow and opened the text message. Kaito rarely texted him because he was always stuck in space or some space related facility and they tended to restrict handphone usage for one reason or another. Maybe today just happened to be one of Kaito's rest days.

MK: Excited for your first day at school? :D

OK: pls  
OK: i'm gonna die  
OK: kaito-chan save me

MK: Please drop the -chan it's weird

Well, it seemed like Kaito had nothing important to talk about. He opted to ignore Kaito for now and made a mental note to call the man later in the day. He had not talked to Kaito in a while, so it would be nice to catch up.

Since he was caught up on his messages, he grabbed his suitcase and stepped out of the door. The walk to Hope's Peak Elementary was barely five minutes long, which disappointed Ouma a little because he liked walking and taking in the sights. It allowed him to clear his mind of his complicated thoughts and just enjoy life, even if only for a moment.

Kokichi arrived at the gate, flashing his staff pass to the suspicious security guard. The strangely familiar looking security guard squinted at his name, then did a double take when he saw his face. "Kokichi? What are you doing here?"

"Juzo-chan...?" Kokichi stared, then shook his thoughts away. Meeting his ex-boyfriend here was the least of his worries, since he had to face said ex-boyfriend everyday at work for the past few years with said ex-boyfriend as his superior, of all things. "Assignment. You?"

"Munakata just wants to fuck with me," Juzo grumbled.

"Doesn't he always," Kokichi snorted.

Juzo rolled his eyes. "No, seriously. 'Stop working so hard,' he says. 'You're taking a year off, and I'm only letting you back in after that year is up or if you find a long-term boyfriend.'"

Kokichi winced visibly. Juzo's huge crush on Munakata was known to everyone in the Future Foundation except Munakata himself. For a man who could do almost anything, Munakata was incredibly dense when it came to affairs of the heart. It was rumored that his late wife proposed to him because he did not know that they were dating. Besides, Munakata lecturing Juzo on working too hard was rich considering the fact that Munakata practically lived in the Future Foundation HQ nowadays. "Ouch. Does he know? Did you tell him?"

"...no," he admitted reluctantly.

"Juzo-chan just needs to tell the truth!" Kokichi exclaimed, though they both knew that was not as simple as it seemed. They were both in the same situation after all, with unrequited crushes on straight men who were married. It was how they got together in the first place, and the reason they separated on good terms. "Or he could lie and hire a boyfriend from the internet!"

"Hire a-" Juzo stopped himself when he realized Kokichi was teasing. "I told him I'm gay. Isn't that enough?"

"Apparently not." Kokichi checked his watch. "I need to hurry, can't be late to work on the first day. Catch you later?"

"Sure. We can go out for dinner after work," Juzo proposed. Kokichi nodded and waved as he ran off to the elementary division. Inwardly, he was relieved that he knew a friendly face around. Maybe this assignment would not be complete crap with Juzo around.

He had already gotten a tour of the area a week before school officially started and met the other teachers, so he made a beeline for the teacher's office and dumped his suitcase at his desk then scurried to the entrance ceremony. He was not late, but he did not want to risk it. There were a few parents and students gathered in the hall, but not that many. Kokichi sighed in relief and sat at his place. He watched as the hall filled up with people, and perked up when he spotted his target. Saihara Shiori. Yet, there was something off.

Her parents was not in the crowd.

Kokichi frowned. Seeing what he knew of Saihara and Akamatsu's personalities, he had expected both of them to turn up. For neither of them to turn up... maybe the Future Foundation was right and they were falling into despair? If so, his first priority was to protect the girl. People in despair would hurt those closest to them first, and Kokichi had no doubt they loved their daughter very much.

Kirigiri - the headmaster - introduced Kokichi as the homeroom teacher of the Year 1s, then allowed the homeroom teachers to lead their students back to the classroom. There were no lessons to be taught today, just getting to know the students and letting the older students take them around.

There was one girl who stood out in his class; Towa Monaca, a paraplegic and a genius at robotics engineering at her age. Kokichi noted that like Shiori, she did not have anyone to take her around on the first day of school, which was odd considering her condition. He made a mental note to keep an eye out for her family situation and make sure she was coping well. Even if it was an undercover assignment, Kokichi could not stand by and watch children suffer. 

Soon enough, school ended. Parents came to fetch their children, and Kokichi made an effort to introduce himself as their homeroom teacher as they came to pick up their children one by one. It would make the upcoming parent-teacher meeting less painful if he gave them a good impression despite being inexperienced. Monaca had a chauffeur to pick her up and not her parents, but considering that she was the daughter of _that_ Towa group it was not a surprise.

By the time everyone left, there was only one girl waiting at the guardhouse. She sat alone on the bench, twiddling her thumbs.

Kokichi approached her slowly. "Shiori-chan?"

She jumped a little, the unexpected address catching her off guard. "Ah, Ouma-sensei..." she said in a meek voice.

"How are you? Where are your parents?"

"I... uh. I'm waiting for otou-san..."

Kokichi nodded. "Alright. Let your sensei wait with you, alright?"

"Okay..." Shiori went back to playing with her fingers, not making eye contact with Kokichi.

Kokichi shot a discreet glance at Shiori as he took a seat beside her. There were no bruises or injuries on her exposed skin, but abusers have been known to hit in places that were easily covered up like the torso and abdomen. Saihara was a detective, so he should be doubly aware of that. While he could check by taking off her clothes, he did not have proof of his suspicion and thus would just look like a pedophile. He needed to take another approach to confirm if Shiori was alright.

"Will you tell me about your father?" Kokichi asked.

Immediately, Shiori's eyes lit up. "Otou-san is the best detective in the world! He can solve any case! One day, I'll grow up to be just like him and take over the detective agency." She caught Kokichi's slightly stunned look and stammered. "D-don't think that otou-san doesn't like me because he's late today! He's a very busy man, so it's normal!"

It seemed as if Shiori looked up to and loved her father very much. That was a good sign, that meant that there was less of a chance that Saihara was abusing his daughter and falling into despair. Maybe it really was just a bad day for Saihara and Akamatsu and they could not make it. "Of course not. Adults are busy people, you know?"

"Ouma-sensei is an adult, but he can sit with me and wait! So some adults have a lot of time!"

Kokichi spluttered indignantly. "That's my job!"

Shiori giggled, and suddenly Kokichi could not find it in himself to get mad at her. "Otou-san did my hair this morning. Isn't it pretty?" 

He fingered the braids with one hand, lightly running his fingers over it. Her hair felt exactly like Saihara's, with the same texture and silkiness as he remembered from a decade ago. The braid was actually rather decent, seeing as there were few stray strands sticking up all over the place. Well, apart from the cowlick on her head that was. He realized both Akamatsu and Saihara had that same strand of stupid hair sticking straight up, so maybe it was just a shared family trait. "It is. Do you like it?"

"I do! I want to learn to braid my hair like that, but it's hard..." Shiori pouted.

If Saihara was doing his daughter's hair in the morning, it was likely he loved her a lot and was unlikely to hurt her, at least while he was sane. That was another good sign. Saihara was still sane and loved his daughter a lot. Now it was up to Kokichi to make sure he did not fall back into despair. "Practice makes perfect. As long as you keep practicing, you'll be able to braid your hair," Kokichi replied. "That will surprise your father, won't it?"

"Do you think otou-san will be happy if I'm able to braid my hair?" Shiori asked, fiddling with her hair as she did so.

Kokichi smiled and nodded. "I'm sure he'll be very proud of you. I'm sure he already is, even if you can't braid your hair."

Kokichi had been prepared to see the girl and think of her as a constant reminder of Akamatsu and Saihara's relationship, but all he saw was a girl. A six year old girl starting school, who may feel a little lonely because her parents were always busy but was an innocent child in the end. 

It was a well-kept secret of Kokichi that he wanted children of his own. He wanted five of them so that he could train them to work together to terrorize others with their pranks, like a second coming of DICE. He wanted to raise them and guide them along the right path and watch them grow under his love and care. But he was a gay man in Japan, so he could never have his own children or adopt. He was destined to remain childless for the rest of his life just because he could not love a woman, because he was sexually attracted to men. Being a teacher was the closest he could be to a father.

His heart lurched. Saihara and Akamatsu were so lucky to have such a beautiful daughter. He could only wish to have children of his own.

In a few minutes, Kokichi spotted a familiar figure riding in the distance. He took a few deep, steady breaths to calm himself, then tugged Shiori's hand and got her to stand. Saihara practically threw the bike in the parking spot and ran to the school gate. He bowed deeply as he struggled to catch his breath. “I’m sorry, I’m late! Please forgive me!”

“No worries, it was just half an hour, Saihara-san." It was so weird to refer to Saihara that way, but he needed to maintain the illusion that was not aware of Shiori's father being his beloved. "Shiori-chan, your father’s here!”

“Yes, Ouma-sensei!” Shiori gave a playful salute to the teacher.

It took a while for the name to click in Saihara's mind. Kokichi was only slightly disappointed by that. “Ouma… kun? Ouma Kokichi-kun?”

Kokichi suppressed the hitch in his throat when he heard Saihara say his given name and tried to look as surprised as he could. He was a good liar, he could do it. “Eh? Might this actually be my beloved Saihara-chan?”

It was. Even with sweat soaked through his shirt and heaving to catch his breath, he was still the most beautiful and radiant thing Kokichi had ever set his eyes on in his twenty nine years of life. Saihara had aged since Kokichi last saw him, the most prominent change being his eye bags and dark circles around his eyes, but other than that he looked almost the same. He still had the same fashion sense as before, sticking to plain white dress shirts and matching pants, but the way he rolled his sleeves up to his elbows made Kokichi's stomach flip. He had obviously rode as fast as he could to the school to fetch Shiori, so that was another point in his favor of not falling into despair.

Shiori tugged at Saihara's sleeve innocently. “You know Ouma-sensei, otou-san?”

Saihara's face went through a series of contortions as his brain processed the information. “Ouma…sensei?!” 

Kokichi giggled. His beloved detective was just too cute. “Nishishi, is it really so difficult to believe that I became a teacher? Why, you have such little faith in me, Saihara-chan!” He threw in some crocodile tears for old times' sake, but Saihara had learnt long ago not to fall from them. So Saihara remembered his mannerisms all those years ago? Maybe his beloved Saihara did care about him after all!

“A-anyway, thank you for looking after Shiori today. I’m counting on you to take care of her for the next year, Ouma-sensei.” Saihara bowed again to express his gratitude.

Kokichi waved his hands in dismissal. “No need to be so formal, Saihara-chan. Hearing you call me 'sensei' gives me the chills.” He would much, _much_ rather hear Saihara call him Kokichi again, but he supposed Ouma-kun was much better than Ouma-sensei. It was not as if he could ever get Saihara to call him by his given name on a regular basis, after all.

Saihara released himself from his bow, then said something Kokichi never would have expected him to say. “Then… Ouma-kun, will you come over for dinner sometime? We haven’t met in years, and I’d like to catch up with you.”

Kokichi smiled. “…really? You’d sit at a dining table with me after what I did?”

The best lies were not lies at all. Saihara would probably be misled into thinking of how Kokichi manipulated Gonta into falling into despair, causing him to land Miu in the hospital. In reality, that was not the case.

He thought he was special to Saihara because Saihara allowed him to break into his room and stay the night multiple times, so he assumed his feelings had been reciprocated. He was wrong. A month before graduation, Kokichi caught Saihara and Akamatsu kissing behind the school. He could only stand there, feet rooted to the ground in shock, as he watched Saihara stick his tongue down Akamatsu's throat and pull her closer by the waist.

How dare Kokichi presume that he stood a chance against Akamatsu Kaede, of all people.

Kokichi could not even bring himself to hate Akamatsu because there was absolutely nothing to dislike about her. She was perfect. She was pretty, kind, outgoing, people actually  _liked_  her... And how could Kokichi hate her, when she made his beloved happy?

So he stepped back. He told himself that as long as his beloved Saihara was happy, he was happy.

He told Miu and Gonta that he needed to break off contact with the class because the Future Foundation demanded he do so, and they planned and staged the incident together. But the truth was, it was simply too painful to see Akamatsu and Saihara together. That was how cowardly, how willing he was to run away from his problems. He lied to Miu and Gonta and landed Miu in the hospital just for his own selfish reasons, and to this day they never knew.

Saihara probably did not know either.

“I’m trusting you with my daughter. I can trust you enough to have a meal with you," Saihara said.

Kokichi laughed. “Fair enough. Here’s my number and email address." He took out a business card and placed it in Saihara's hand. There was a spark when they touched, but Kokichi pulled away before Saihara could notice and call him out on it. His beloved Saihara had always been observant, after all. "Call me anytime, Saihara-chan.”

Saihara looked at the card and nodded, then strapped Shiori on the bike. "I'll text you later," he said before he rode off. Shiori waved until they could not be seen in the distance. Kokichi waved back.

From the guardhouse, Juzo popped his head out. "So that's the guy you've been pining for?"

"I don't want to hear that from _you,_ " Kokichi snapped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> past!rarepair for shits and giggles. Just kidding. Sakakura will come in handy later.
> 
> I am so fond of so many rarepairs but like... they're just sitting in my drafts because if I publish it I'll spoil my other ongoing fic. Hahahahahha :(


End file.
